SPEC Thursday released SPECjAppServer2002, a new benchmark that measures the performance of J2EE 1.3 application servers connected to a database server.

SPECjAppServer2002 is a new version of the SPECjAppserver2001 benchmark released in September. It has been updated to include Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 2.0 Container Managed Persistence (CMP) features available in J2EE 1.3 application servers.

SPECjAppServer2002 focuses on testing the EJB container in a J2EE 1.3 server. The workload models a manufacturing, supply chain management, and order/inventory environment. Performance results for the benchmark are influenced primarily by hardware configuration, J2EE application software, and database software.

While similar to the EJB 1.1-based SPECjAppServer2001 benchmark, SPEC believes that the requirements for J2EE 1.3-compliant application servers and the use of EJB 2.0 create a unique enough workload to warrant a new benchmark. The organization notes that results for the new benchmark cannot be compared to those from any other benchmark.

The new benchmark takes into account EJB 2.0 features, such as local interfaces, the EJB-QL query language, and Container Managed Relationships between entity beans.

SPECjAppServer2002 uses two metrics to evaluate performance: 1) Total Operations Per Second (TOPS), which is the number of customer order transactions plus the number of manufacturing work orders divided by the measurement period in seconds, and 2) $/TOPS, the price/performance of the system under test (including hardware, software, and support).

Development work on SPECjAppServer is done by the SPEC/OSG Java Subcommittee, which produced the SPECjvm98, SPECjbb2000, and SPECjAppServer2001 benchmarks. SPEC members active in developing this benchmark include BEA, Borland, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Pramati, Sun Microsystems and Sybase. SPEC associate members Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Technical University of Darmstadt, also participated in the benchmark's development.

"SPECjAppServer2002 provides a level playing field for comparing application servers compatible with the latest J2EE 1.3 standard," Kaivalya M. Dixit, SPEC president said. "J2EE is the foundation software in many modern e-commerce implementations. This benchmark enables users to test and compare hardware and software platforms to achieve optimal performance for these implementations."